


Closet Monster

by lord_lucia



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), choni - Fandom
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2019-11-29 06:50:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18219668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lord_lucia/pseuds/lord_lucia
Summary: After Cheryl quietly comes out of the closet, she finds herself wanting to explore her sexuality more without outing herself completely. She meets a mysterious girl in a dark bathroom, finds her intriguing. The only problem is Cheryl doesn't know who she is.





	1. Chapter One

**Closet Monster - Chapter 1**   


Cheryl Blossom felt instant relief. Though it was taking Kevin some time to process what she just said, Cheryl felt an incomprehensible amount of weight lift from her chest. Cheryl had never felt this light in her entire life. 

“Holy shit!” Kevin exclaimed, “I totally called it. I knew my gaydar was up to par. Veronica owes me $100.” 

Cheryl didn’t know what was more surprising. Veronica and Kevin betting on her sexuality or the amount of money they put on it. Normally, finding out that people had been betting on her sexuality would have thrown Cheryl into a fit of fiery rage. But she had just come out for the first time ever and nothing was going to ruin her good mood. She would just have to deal with Kevin and Veronica’s gambling later. 

“I’m happy that you’re a hundred dollars richer, Kev. But you can’t tell Veronica . . .or anyone else for that matter. You’re the only person I’ve told and I’d like to come out to people on my terms.” Cheryl’s voice was softer than Kevin had ever heard it. It was clear that doing this on her own meant a lot to her. 

Living in a small town had it’s pros and cons.  **Pro:** Everyone knows everyone.  **Con:** Everyone knows everyone. It can be useful knowing everyone, more connections (emotional and professional) and a better sense of community but once you make a little tiny mistake, everyone is talking about it. Being a lesbian isn’t a mistake, but Cheryl didn’t need her closed-minded, intolerant mother hearing anything about her love life. 

“I completely understand.” Kevin assured. “But if you ever want to meet other gay kids, let me know. I know a place.” Kevin winked at the red head. 

“I don’t know, Kevin. I’m completely comfortable with you knowing, but I don’t think I’m ready for everyone else to know just yet.” She said, lowly.  

“Again, I completely understand. But I know how lonely it can get being in the closet all by yourself. Hell, I even feel lonely now that I’m the only out kid at school. So, if you ever get lonely, just give me a call and I can introduce you to some other super chill gays.” 

“Thanks, Kev.” 

They both stood up to give each other a hug before saying goodbye and going their separate ways. 

一

When Cheryl got home later that night, she couldn’t stop thinking about Kevin’s offer. She could use some gay friends 一 or any friends for that matter. And Kevin was right, being in the closet by yourself was lonely. She whipped out her cell phone and sent him a text. 

 

_ ive been thinking about what you said earlier and i would absolutely love to meet other gays.  _

 

While she waited for him to respond, she started getting ready for bed. She changed into some comfier clothes, washed her face and brushed her teeth before getting into bed. She realized that it was pretty late and knowing Kevin, he probably went to bed early to make sure he got a full 8 hours of sleep. Cheryl was starting to doze when she saw the screen of her phone light up. It was a text from Kevin. 

 

_ Great. Meet me at my house after school on Friday  ;)  _

She was about to agree but remembered that she had scheduled practice with the cheer squad on Friday after school. The newer members of the cheer squad weren’t up to Cheryl’s standard so she made the practice schedule extra rigorous until the girl got up to par.

 

_ I can’t after school. Cheer practice.  _

 

She hit sent and waited impatiently for Kevin to respond. 

 

_ Cancel it. Trust me it’ll be worth it.  _

 

Cheryl could imagine the smirk on Kevin’s face. But she couldn’t imagine what this place he wanted to take her to looked like. Her curiosity was killing her. She could cancel  _ one  _ practice with no harm done. 

 

_ It better be.  _

 

Almost instantly, Cheryl felt excitement starting to build in the pit of her stomach. She was excited for Friday even though it was three days away. She was so excited she found it hard to get to sleep. She thought about what she might want to wear, she wanted to start dressing in a way that would let other gays know that she was gay without actually saying the words  _ I’m gay _ . 

She wondered if there would be any kids from school. There really was only Kevin, that she knew of. But then again, Cheryl was still closeted everywhere except with Kevin so there was a possibility that other closeted kids from school would turn up at Kevin’s secret-gay spot. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Closet Monster - Chapter Two**

The next three days dragged on and on for Cheryl. Her excitement started to grow into nervousness. She could not quite pinpoint why exactly she was so nervous about going to Kevin’s gay place. She almost considered canceling on Kevin and telling her cheerleaders that practice was back on. But she didn’t and after school, she drove herself straight to Kevin’s house.

When she got there, she walked up to the front door and knocked. Nobody answered. She began to pace back and forth in his front yard before going back to her car. She thought about leaving and pretending her friendship with Kevin never happened. Then Kevin rolled up in his car and parked in the driveway. She was somewhat embarrassed that she had gotten to Kevin’s house before Kevin himself got there. She brushed it off and met Kevin at the front door. She was glad that he didn’t decide to make other plans and blow her off. 

“Hey, Cheryl!” They exchanged a quick hug. “Come in. Come in.” 

Kevin led her up to his room and she sat down awkwardly on the corner of his bed. Cheryl observed his room. 

“Wow . . . this isn’t what I expected from your room.” Cheryl got up to inspect some posters he had on his walls and knick-knacks that he kept on his dresser and nightstand. 

“Why not?” He questioned. He started getting comfortable at his desk, in front of a small mirror. 

“I don’t know, I expected it to be more . . . I don’t know,” 

“More gay?” 

“I suppose so. It’s very boyish.” 

Kevin rolled his eyes at her comment. Yes, his room was  _ boyish _ and he was, in fact, a boy.  

“Cheryl,” Kevin sighed, “Just because I’m gay, doesn’t mean that I can’t like what you would consider ‘boy things’.” 

“I didn’t mean it like that,” She clarified. “All I meant was that I always thought your interests were on the more feminine side. That’s all.” 

There was an odd silence between the two. 

“So, Kevin,” Cheryl started awkwardly. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I was wondering what you think I should wear to this . . . thing.” 

“What you’re wearing is perfectly fine.” He said, taking in her appearance. Cheryl had never been one to dress for comfort and it showed. Kevin was confused as to why she was asking considering that Cheryl put a lot of time and effort into her appearance and never asked for anybody’s opinion. 

“I know, I just want people to know I’m gay.” 

“Cheryl, we’re going to a gay club. People will know you’re gay.” Kevin let out a slight chuckle. 

What Cheryl was saying sounded absolutely ridiculous. Then again, he felt like her feelings were familiar. He, too, felt like he had to gay it up in order to get other people to recognize him as gay. But over time he realized that he could just be himself. 

“There is no specific way to be gay, Cheryl.” He put his hand on her shoulder to seem more sincere. “Just dress how you normally dress. Don’t sweat it, you always look great.” 

Cheryl took in everything he said. She couldn’t figure out how to respond with words so she just gave him a small, thankful smile. He had calmed her nerves more than she thought he could. 

They continued to get ready in comfortable silence. Cheryl touched up her makeup and made small adjustments to her outfit. She had worn it to school and wanted to look a little more extravagant without being too extra. Kevin put on some light makeup and nicer shirt with khaki pants. He added a bow tie to spiff up his look and put some gel in his hair to keep it in place. 

When the sun started to set, the two got into Kevin’s car and began the one hour drive to his gay club. Cheryl drove and Kevin gave her directions. The closer they got to the location, the more nervous Cheryl got. 

By the time they actually got there, Cheryl convinced herself that she should just go back home. Take a hot shower then have a nice, relaxing bath. She could just have a lowkey night. She expressed her concerns to Kevin. They were full of what-ifs and Kevin was not having it. 

“Cheryl, you’ve made it this far! Do you really wanna bitch out now?!” 

She was taken aback by his attitude. An attitude she had never seen from him before. 

“I’m just nervous about what people will think when they see me.” She looked down, not wanting to look him in the eyes. 

He had never realized how much Cheryl craved validation. He always thought that she was independent and didn’t give a single fuck about anyone else or their opinions. And maybe that was true. She just wanted to feel accepted. 

“Okay.” Kevin sighed then pulled open the glove box. He pulled out a tube that resembled a tube of face wash, a pack of paintbrushes, then a long container. He put both items on the console between them. Cheryl looked that the items. The tube was body adhesive and in the container was different sections. Each section was filled with glitter and each section was a different color. There were so many colors, even with Cheryl’s advanced vocabulary she couldn’t possibly name them all. 

“Wow.” Cheryl gawked at the shining glitter, clearly amazed. 

“Indeed,” Kevin smirked. “Since you’re so worried about what people will think, we’ll just make sure they don’t know it’s you.” 

Kevin got to work. He used the body adhesive to stick the glitter on Cheryl’s face. He started with her eyes. He took a paintbrush, put a little body adhesive on it and dipped it in the gold glitter. He put it around her eyes and across the bridge of her nose. Then brought it up to her temples and to her hairline. He then did one, thick, diagonal, rainbow stripe across her face. 

“There you go. Unrecognizable.” Kevin admired his work while Cheryl checked herself out in the mirror. 

Of course, she could recognize herself. But that’s because it was herself. Nobody would know it was her unless they were specifically looking for her. Kevin’s glitter mask gave Cheryl the confidence to walk into this gay club with her head held high. 

And she did. 

 The front door led into a long, narrow hallway. Hung up on the walls of the hallway were framed pictures of famous LGBT+ people. Everyone from Freddie Mercury to Elle Degeneres to Marsha P. Johnson. You could hear loud music playing somewhere at the end of the hallway. Every step Cheryl took down the hallway made excitement bubble up in her stomach. The music got louder and the doorway at the end of the hall got closer. 

They walk through the doorway and into the party. The lights are colorful and change with the music. There are people sticking to the walls, making conversation and there are people on the dance floor, dancing up on each other. There were loveseats sprinkled around the room, occupied by couples. And in the very middle of the room was a dance floor, packed with sweaty teens dancing to loud, thumping music. 

This certainly wasn’t what Cheryl was expecting. She thought it would be more of a social gathering. But this was a full-blown, unrestrained party. And like many parties Cheryl had been to, she wanted to leave early. 

“I don’t know about this, Kev. I think I wanna leave!” She had to shout over the music for him to hear her. 

“Just hang out for an hour. If you still wanna leave, then we’ll go.” He bargained. 

Before Cheryl could answer, he disappeared into the sea of people leaving Cheryl standing in the doorway all alone. 

She made her way towards the back of the room where there was a table of snacks and drinks. She grabbed a water bottle and headed towards a corner to stand in. She sipped her water and made small talk with a few other teens who preferred standing on the sidelines. 

Cheryl didn’t know what had gotten into her. Why was she suddenly so shy and reserved? If this was any other party she’d be the center of attention by now. Why was this party any different?

After evaluating herself and the situation, Cheryl decided that this party wouldn’t be any different. Without hesitation, she walked straight to the dance floor and started dancing with the nearest group of people. They welcomed her into their group. 

Cheryl danced her self-consciousness away. Soon enough, the hour she had promised Kevin had passed and she was still having a great time. She was making friends and even though she was hoping to find a little something more, she was happy just being around other gay teens. The way the other teens brought her into their group made her feel like she was apart of a loving and accepting community and she wanted to cherish the feeling forever. 

After dancing with her new-found friends for a few hours, Cheryl drained the last of her water bottle and decided she needed to use the bathroom. She excused herself from the group and made her way towards the gender-neutral restrooms that were towards the back of the room. 

She walked in and was shocked at how dim the lights were. Everything was stained a purple-pink color because of the way the lights were glowing. Cheryl glimpsed at the mirror in an attempt to check herself out but it was hard to see anything in the mirror without getting super close to it. 

Cheryl felt her way into the nearest stall and did her business rather quickly, it was difficult to go in the dark and she was eager to get back out on the dance floor. She washed her hands and looked at herself closely in the mirror. She considered the glitter mask she was wearing. She could take it off now that she has more confidence in herself and her ability to make friends in this new environment. 

“Excuse me,” Someone cleared their throat behind her. 

“Oh my god!” Cheryl jumped away from the mirror, startled. “I had no idea anyone was here.” She turned around to see the silhouette of a very petite woman. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She walked past Cheryl and started washing her hands. “But you’re kind of in the way.” 

Cheryl was taken aback by that comment but decided to ignore it. She didn’t want to be known here as the girl who started a fight in the bathroom. 

“Though I don’t blame you. I’d stare at you forever if I could, too.” She turned towards Cheryl, shaking her hands dry. Cheryl was beginning to get flustered, she didn’t know what to say. The girl took Cheryl’s silence as an invitation to keep talking. 

“This is your first time here, right?” 

She didn’t answer.

She took a step closer. “Do you have a name?” 

“I ... I don’tー” Cheryl was getting frustrated with herself. She’s never been at a loss for words and this one time when she really wants them, she’s got nothing. 

“You don’t know your name?” She inquired. “I’ll just call you red.” 

“Iー” Cheryl took a second to compose herself. “Why?” 

_ What a stupid question, _ Cheryl thought, _ it’s pretty obvious why. _

Cheryl’s bright red lips and fiery hair stood out in the extremely dim light, the small girl couldn’t help but notice.  

“Because of your hair,” She took a strand of Cheryl’s hair into her hand and twirled it between her fingertips before letting fall back onto Cheryl's shoulder. “And your lips. That color is gorgeous by the way.” 

“Thank you!” Cheryl breathed out. “Um . . . I like your hair.” 

Cheryl mentally kicked herself. Really? The best she could come up with was  _ I like your hair _ ? She could do so much better. And she didn’t even know if her hair was actually pink or if the lighting in the bathroom made it look pink. 

“Thanks! I like your face.” The pink-haired girl mentioned casually. “At least, what I can see of it.” She added, gesturing at upward and looking at the lights that hung from the ceiling, then gesturing to her eyes in reference to the glitter that was covering Cheryl’s face. 

Cheryl felt her cheeks heat up and hoped the other girl wouldn’t be able to tell how bright red they were.

Cheryl was silent, she couldn’t fathom the entire situation. What was she supposed to say? She just looked at the shorter girl with her mouth agape. 

The pink-haired girl took in Cheryl’s silence and decided to make her move, “Can I kiss you?” She asked, politely. Just in case she was misreading the situation. She wanted to make sure Cheryl was comfortable. 

“Uh. . .” Cheryl cleared her throat. “Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

Though she seemed slightly uncertain, the shorter girl went for it. It was a quick kiss. Again, she wanted to make sure Cheryl was 100% comfortable with kissing the bathroom. She focused on Cheryl, looking for signs of discomfort or disgust. 

Cheryl grasped the other girl’s arm and pressed their lips back together while slowly walking back into one of the bathroom stalls. 

Their kisses were soft and delicate. Though Cheryl was eager to explore other aspects of her sexuality, including sex, she didn’t want to move too fast with the girl she had just met in the bathroom. She didn’t want her first time with another woman to be in a bathroom stall. She was just enjoying kiss the shorter girl, appreciating the feelings the other girl was giving her. She had never really felt anything when she used to kiss boys and she couldn’t believe what she had been missing out on. 

Cheryl felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out of her back pocket while simultaneously prying her lips away from her new friend’s lips. A text message from Kevin was lighting up her screen. 

_ are you ready to go?  _

Followed by a second message. 

_ i certainly am _

“Everything okay?” 

“I’m sorry but I have to go.” She was clearly disappointed. “I wish we could continue.” She started taking a few steps away from the other girl. 

Her phone buzzed again, she glanced at the new message. 

_ i’ll wait for you outside _

“Maybe we can continue some other time.” She handed Cheryl her phone, urging the red-head to enter her phone number. 

“Most definitely.” Cheryl agreed. She entered her phone then handed the phone back to her. “I hope you’ll text me fairly soon.” 

With that, Cheryl began to make her way out of the bathroom. 

“Wait!” the pink-haired girl called, but Cheryl didn’t wait. She let the door close behind her. “You didn’t give me your name.” She finished to the empty room. 


End file.
